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Israel has reduced Gaza to a wasteland. It has killed over 1,300 people, around a third of them ­children. Thousands more have been left injured, homeless and traumatised. The United Nations describes Gaza as a site of "utter devastation".

The dispute at the Chemilines pharmaceuticals factory in Wembley, north west London, took another turn for the worse this week as the GMB union called off further strike action and the company announced plans for up to 60 redundancies.

Royal Mail managers in north London are provoking possible strike action by introducing 35-hour contracts for new workers, instead of the 40-hour contracts that are agreed with the postal workers’ CWU union.

Several delivery offices in Oxford are preparing for possible industrial action in protest at attempts by Royal Mail to impose changes to working practices without negotiation with the union. This is a clear breach of national and local agreements.

The London bus pay campaign has reached a crucial junction. Thousands of Unite union members across several major companies are still waiting for news of a new ballot for strikes – more than three months after their previous action was suspended in the face of legal threats.

US president Barack Obama has issued a number of executive orders in his first week in office that distance him from his predecessor George Bush – on Guantanamo Bay, stem cell research, reproductive rights and climate change.

Thousands of workers at around 20 construction sites and refineries across Britain have walked out on unofficial strike. At the centre of the strikes is the claim that foreign workers are taking the jobs of British workers.

Comment

This is a time of contrasts. On the one hand there is anger on the streets and campuses over Israel’s attack on Gaza. On the other a lack of struggle against the huge level of job cuts hitting workers in Britain.

Features

There has been widespread criticism of Israel and its assault on Gaza – but where do its weapons come from? Israel buys arms from around the world as well as manufacturing many of its own. And it has strong links to Britain’s arms industry, currently the world’s second largest after the US.

For years the US and Israel have been able to rely on Turkey, a staunch ally of both countries and a key power in the Nato military alliance. But Israel’s war on Gaza has now thrown that relationship into turmoil.

The US and its close allies have been engaged in an offensive on several fronts since 11 September 2001. Their aim has been to entrench the global dominance of US imperialism. Barack Obama has entered the White House at a key moment in that offensive.

It’s difficult to believe that bankers could become even less popular, but that is exactly what happened last week. Fresh from soaking up some £200 billion in emergency funds from the government, Britain’s major banks turned round and asked for more.

BBC executives came up with a thoroughly disingenuous excuse to justify their shameful refusal to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee’s appeal for Gaza. They claimed that broadcasting the appeal would have compromised the corporation’s "impartiality".

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Israel’s barbaric attack reveals its true nature
There are two military strategies that governments and armies use when fighting insurgency. One is often termed "hearts and minds", while the other is known as collective punishment.

"I will wear a black armband as a sign of mourning and protest. I want people to know that I do not agree with what is happening in Gaza and throughout Palestine."Rangers FC football player Madjid Bougherra. The Scottish Football Association banned him from wearing the armband